A New Season

It's December and the snow has already been falling. Unfortunately, so have I. Cory and I hit the slopes at Whistler last week, and I took that literally, taking a pretty bad fall on Harmony Piste, breaking my bindings, if not quite my neck. That ended our first day of the season rather abruptly, and now a few days later, the bindings are repaired and the neck nearly so, and we're ready for our second trip to Whistler later this week.

Cory is looking forward to another great season, not just skiing but attending the Winter Olympic Games next February 14th, when we'll watch the Canadian Speed Queens in Super Combined action against the rest of the world taking place on the run immediately below us as we ride this gondola:

In fact, in the background is the grandstand that is currenty under construction where we'll be sitting cheering on Britt Janyk, Emily Brydon, and Kelly Vanderbeek.

And it's the first year now of the Special Olympics 4-year competitive cycle that could lead to Cory's hopes of World Games competition in 2013. On March 14th, 2010, Cory will compete in a Regional Qualifier at Silver Star in Vernon, BC for the right to move on to the Provincial Games in 2011.

And so far, the weather is cooperating with over 17 feet of snow already fallen at Whistler.

So it seems like an appropriate moment to look back at how "Ski Racing With Cory" got started. Cory started skiing in Grade 6, about 7 years ago. But it wasn't until 2007 that he really got interested in ski racing. From basically his first moment on skis, he really enjoyed going fast, so racing was a rather natural progression, although finding an appropriate environment for him was a bit of a challenge.

Here's Cory on his first day ever on skis, using a rope tow at Cypress Mountain near Vancouver, BC:

He joined Special Olympics but we quickly saw that he really wasn't getting the coaching and race opportunities that he needed to improve, so thanks to the magic of the internet, we found a summer ski racing camp that was very happy to accept Cory. And that's when racing really became a reality for Cory. We attended Bob Vial's Hurricane Race Camp on Mount Hood in July 2007 and learned a heck of a lot about what ski racing really means. A lot of hard work and a lot of new equipment for starters.

Race suits, race skis, race boots, pole plants, an athletic stance, brushes, delay gates, ski tuning, we learned about all of that and more in 5 exhausting days of race training.

At Mount Hood, Cory faced a lot of new challenges of all types under stressful conditions. He listened carefully to his coach and tried to do everything that was asked of him. On the last day, faced with a particularly difficult race course, and in spite of a lot of fear and confusion, he confronted his fears and attacked the course, proving to me that he has the true heart of a champion. It was soon after that we started blogging.

Here's Cory on Mount Hood:

Learning the hard way:

He competed in his first Provincial Winter Games in 2007 as well, earning 3 Bronze medals, a great start, though not good enough to qualify for the National Games in 2008.

Here he is in action on Crystal Mountain near Kelowna, at those Games in February 2007:

And a podium celebration:

Since then, Cory has joined a local race team called the Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports (VASS) Blue Streaks, where he trains twice a week and competes in about a half dozen races every winter, while continuing to ski with Special Olympics once a week. He also does weight training and biking to build strength and endurance. He also participates in 5 Pin Bowling with Special Olympics and plans to join their basketball program in January.

He's met the Canadian ski team during a World Cup event at Whistler in March 2008, and we regularly watch them compete on TV throughout the winter.

Here he is with Robbie Dixon, who has had a remarkable start to his race season for Canada:

Here's Cory in action in his last race...April 25, 2009...and he's a winner, making him the Disabled Skiers' Association of BC Provincial Champion for 2009:

And the champion savouring the moment, and the coffee, the next morning:

So, we're ready for the new season and if I can stay upright and not try to ski on my head, all will go well. Cory will continue to work hard at improving his ski racing skills and hopefully do well enough at the Regional Qualifier in March to proceed to the Provincial Games in 2011. We'll also get to see in person the best skiers in the world at the Olympic Games on Valentine's Day and Cory will also be representing British Columbia in 5-Pin bowling next July at the Special Olympics National Summer Games.

So come along and enjoy the ride!